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martinjlm · #5 (**permalink**) 02-07-2006, 02:16 PM

Gonavy is pretty much right on the money. The only thing I would point out different is that both GM and Ford have been offering E85 capable vehicles for years. They just have not promoted them. Reason? Well, there are two.

Most people wouldn't know where to get E85, since the current petroleum infrastructure doesn't really support it.
The biggest customers for it are government and government contractor fleets. Many government and contractor fleets manage their own fuel supplies and can stock E85 or Compressed Natural Gas. In some cases, the ability to bid on a contract is driven by a requirement to offer a full line of alternative fuel vehicles. Since most of the fleets center around work trucks........

Both GM and Ford have had dialog with government & non-government agencies about the potential for E85 to reduce the dependence on foreign oil. There are a few roadblocks, two of which are sort of addressed in the recently passed Energy Bill. Oil refinery capacity and distribution systems have both limited E85 availability. The new Energy Bill provides incentives to build E85 refinery capacity and distribution systems. The third roadblock, raw material to make enough to replace significant amounts of gasoline, still needs some creative solutions.

Katrina & Rita have brought more focused attention to E85, but the background work was already being done, both in terms of GM and Ford development of vehicles capable of running on E85, and in terms of Energy Bill language that favors further development of an infrastructure to support expansion of E85 fuel availability.

Gonavy is on the money with respect to E85 capability to certify as AT-PZEV. The issue is not so much the emissions, but the evaporative qualities of ethanol wrt the evaporative qualities of gas. Getting the vehicle certify as having no evaporation from the fuel tank during heat soak cycles is the issue. There are smart people working on solutions.

Peace,

Martin